SANTA FE, N.M. — Alec Baldwin ’s involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico came to a sudden and surprising halt on Friday while the judge considers a defense motion to dismiss the case over disputed ammunition evidence in the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins .
Alec Baldwin listens during his involuntary manslaughter trial for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," in Santa Fe, N.M., Friday, July 12, 2024.
Ramsay de Give - pool, ASSOCIATED PRESS Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sent the jury home for the day and told them to return Monday after what was supposed to be a short morning hearing on the matter, but raised more questions than expected and prompted her to call for further testimony outside the presence of jurors. The defense argued that prosecutors hid evidence from them about the ammunition that may be related to the shooting on the set of the Western “Rust” in 2021. The defense said they should have had the ability to determine its importance.
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“We don’t know if it’s a live ammunition match or not," Baldwin's attorney Luke Nikas told the judge. "But we do know that the state had it, and it’s disclosable.” The prosecution has said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden.
CORRECTS THE NAME OF THE JUDGE TO MARY MARLOWE SOMMER, NOT MARY MARLOWE -Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer presides over Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," in Santa Fe, N.M., Friday, July 12, 2024.
Ramsay de Give - pool, ASSOCIATED PRESS The issue emerged Thursday on the second day of the actor's trial during defense questioning of sheriff's crime scene technician Marissa Poppell. Baldwin lawyer Alex Spiro asked whether a “good Samaritan” had come into the sheriff's office with the ammunition earlier this year after the trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film's armorer, for her role in Hutchins’ death. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an involuntary manslaughter conviction, which she is now appealing.
There has still not been a definitive determination on how the live rounds got on set. But prosecutors said photos on found on Gutierrez-Reed's cellphone point to her being responsible. Poppell testified that at the behest of her supervisor, she accepted the ammunition, logged it and filed a report on it.
But the defense said the prosecution did not group it with other evidence in the “Rust” case, and it was not included when the ballistics evidence was provided to them in April. “They buried it,” Nikas said. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey established in her questioning that the man with the ammunition was Troy Teske, a retired police officer in Mohave County, Arizona, who is a friend of Thell Reed, a prominent movie armorer and Gutierrez-Reed's father.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack From left, Alex Spiro and Heather LeBlanc, attorneys for actor Alec Baldwin, look over paperwork during Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, N.M. Ramsay de Give - pool, ASSOCIATED PRESS Morrissey said the bullets were not the same size or chemical composition as the live rounds found on the “Rust” set, including the one that killed Hutchins.
“This is a wild goose chase that has no evidentiary value whatsoever," Morrissey told the judge Friday. “This is just a man trying to protect his daughter.” But Marlowe Sommer found the issue serious enough to ask to see the evidence herself, and put on latex gloves to examine it in open court.
She then called off trial for the day and asked to hear testimony from Poppell and Seth Kenney, a supplier of firearms and some of the ammunition on the film. Kenney had been cooperative with police and prosecutors throughout their investigation. The defense have suggested that the relationship has been too cozy, and that authorities insufficiently investigated whether he was responsible for the live bullets reaching the set.
Kenney has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and police and prosecutors have said there is no evidence that he had any role in the live ammunition on the “Rust” set. His attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Actor Alec Baldwin approaches his wife Hilaria during his trial, Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.
M. Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust". Ramsay de Give - pool, ASSOCIATED PRESS Police and prosecutors had known about Teske and his supply of ammunition since less than a month after the shooting.
Kenney had called him during an interview with the lead sheriff's investigator, Alexandria Hancock, and asked him to send a picture of the ammunition he had. The bullets in the photos did not appear to match the live rounds found on the “Rust” set. Morrissey said that it eventually became clear to Hancock the issue was an attempt to mislead investigators by Thell Reed, who was trying to shift blame from his daughter to Kenney.
Morrissey met herself with Teske last year, but did not pursue the evidence further. The defense suggested the evidence was obscured because it might be favorable to Baldwin. But prosecutors have pointed out that the charge against Baldwin stems from his reckless flouting of gun safety, not an allegation that he had any part in the live ammunition reaching set.
Alec Baldwin goes on trial in ‘Rust’ set shooting Actor Alec Baldwin, left, and attorney Luke Nikas listen during a hearing July 10 in Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M. The trial at the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico — about 20 miles northeast of the movie set and the shooting — is projected to last nine days, and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer insists that she’ll keep the lawyers in line and on schedule.
Jury selection begins Tuesday, with opening statements expected Wednesday, and the projected end the following Friday. Once the jurors get the case, however, they can deliberate as long as needed. Ross D.
Franklin, Associated Press Actor Alec Baldwin, left, embraces his brother, actor Stephen Baldwin, during a break July 10 in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M. Baldwin, 66, emerged as a major movie star in the late 1980s and early ‘90s through films like “Beetlejuice” and “The Hunt for Red October,” and has remained a household name ever since .
He would move on to memorable supporting roles in films including 2003’s “The Cooler,” which got him an Oscar nomination. Comedy dominated his later career as he won two Emmys for playing network executive Jack Donaghy on six seasons of “30 Rock,” and won a third for playing Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.” He has also played the role of outsized public personality, as a cherished talk-show guest, a sought-after liberal, and at times as a man unable to control his outbursts of anger, which have brought public embarrassment and a previous run-in with the law much more minor than the current one.
Baldwin is the eldest of six children — five of them actors — from Massapequa, New York, who has lived in New York City for most of his adult life. He has an adult daughter, Ireland Baldwin, with his first wife Kim Basinger, and seven small children with his second wife, Hilaria Baldwin. Ross D.
Franklin, Associated Press Attorney Gloria Allred holds a picture of Halyna Hutchins on July 10 outside a District Court in which Alec Baldwin is facing involuntary manslaughter charge for her fatal shooting on the set of 'Rust' in Santa Fe, N.M. Hutchins, who was 42 when she died, was a cinematographer on the rise and a mother of a young son when she was killed.
She grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentary films in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and embarking on a promising movie-making career . Roberto E. Rosales, Associated Press Actor Alec Baldwin, left, sits with his lawyer Luke Nikas, July 8 in District Court in Santa Fe, N.
M. Baldwin will bring with him an elite legal team of mostly New York-based attorneys, many of them Harvard Law graduates, from the firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Alex Spiro, a 41-year-old defense attorney who has represented Elon Musk, Megan Thee Stallion and other prominent figures and has become among the most sought-after lawyers in the country, will give aggressive cross-examination to the state's witnesses.
The defense will try to show that it is not the job of an actor to make sure real rounds are not in his gun, a position strongly supported by Baldwin’s union, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News, and implied in interviews with authorities, that he never pulled the revolver's trigger . His lawyers will also attack the gun evidence , and the serious damage done to the revolver during an FBI test they say amounted to the destruction of evidence and left the defense no chance to examine it.
Luis Sánchez Saturno, Santa Fe New Mexican Alec Baldwin wipes his eyes July 8 during a hearing in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in Santa Fe, N.M. Prosecutors have two alternative standards for proving the charge.
One is based on the negligent use of a firearm. The other is proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin acted with total disregard or indifference for the safety of others. Despite the legal and technical complexities of the case, the 12 citizens of Santa Fe County that will make up the jury will have to reach just one verdict — guilty or not guilty — on a single count.
Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson shows a bullet in an evidence bag July 10 during actor Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter hearing, in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M.
Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies appointed Kari Morrissey as a special prosecutor in the Baldwin case in early 2023 after her predecessor stepped down because of conflicts of interest. Morrissey promptly had the indictment against Baldwin dismissed, but revived it in January of this year by grand jury. Both moves came from further examination of the evidence, she said.
Morrissey graduated from the University of New Mexico and its law school, and practiced law in Albuquerque for more than 20 years. Johnson joined Morrissey's team in April. The trial could bring a culture clash between the team of attorneys, as fiery hearings and filings have already shown.
Morrissey and Spiro in particular have butted heads often — “I’m not going to sit here and be called a liar!" — she said during one such moment at a May hearing — and will likely do the same and provide some drama during the proceedings. The prosecutors will try to convince jurors that Baldwin he was negligent in handling his gun. Ross D.
Franklin, Associated Press Actor Alec Baldwin listens during a hearing July 10 in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court in Santa Fe, N.M. Ross D.
Franklin, Associated Press Alec Baldwin speaks with investigators following a fatal shooting Oct. 21, 2021, on the movie set "Rust" in Santa Fe, N.M.
Santa Fe, New Mexico's capital, an arts mecca of 89,000 people and a tourist destination for its historic Southwestern beauty, is no small town. And its downtown modern legal complex is hardly a country courthouse. But the location is still a far cry from the coastal urban courts where the celebrity trials of Bill Cosby, O.
J. Simpson, Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump were held. Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office Actor Alec Baldwin listens July 10 during a hearing in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.
M. Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey listens July 8 during Alec Baldwin's pretrial hearing in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in Santa Fe, N.
M. Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Actor Alec Baldwin arrives July 10 at District Court for jury selection in his involuntary manslaughter trial, in Santa Fe, N.
M. Roberto E. Rosales, Associated Press A video scene from the film, "Rust" showing actor Alec Baldwin is viewed July 10 during a hearing in his involuntary manslaughter trial, in District Court in Santa Fe, N.
M. Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer listens July 8 during a preliminary hearing in Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in Santa Fe, N.
M. Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Actor Stephen Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin, wife of Alec Baldwin, listen July 10 during actor Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.
M. Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Actor Alec Baldwin stands July 10 during a break in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.
M. Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Actor Alec Baldwin talks July 10 with his wife Hilaria Baldwin during his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court in Santa Fe, N.
M. Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press A musician plays a violin behind a photograph of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a vigil in her honor in Albuquerque, N.
M., Oct. 23, 2021.
Andres Leighton, Associated Press This aerial photo shows the movie set of "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., Oct.
23, 2021. The crew members inside the small church building who became eyewitnesses to Hutchins' killing will provide the trial's most essential testimony. They include director Joel Souza, who was himself shot and wounded by the bullet from Baldwin's gun, and assistant director David Halls, who some said was responsible for the shooting but pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm.
Prosecutors convinced a judge just before trial to exclude a summary of a workplace safety report that puts much of the blame for the shooting on Halls. Zac Sneesby , a crew member who was holding a boom microphone during the rehearsal, will testify that he saw Baldwin pull the trigger of the revolver, prosecutors said in court filings, making him potentially the most important witness of all. Prosecutors also may call Gutierrez-Reed to the stand, but Marlowe Sommer rejected an immunity deal they wanted to give her.
Jae C. Hong, Associated Press Actor Stephen Baldwin and his sister Elizabeth Keuchler exit the courtroom July 10 after their brother Alec Baldwin's hearing in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M.
Ross D. Franklin, Associated Press Be the first to know.
